Obituary of Gloria Marie Messick

Gloria Marie Messick passed away in Seattle, Washington on October 15, 2021. Her loving husband, Robert Messick, and her children were at her bedside. Gloria was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on August 3, 1936, the first child born to Alice Kraus and Sebastian Kraus. She was known for her independent spirit, devotion to her family and her unbridled love of animals, especially cats and horses. She had the most beautiful singing voice, a whistle like a songbird and a talent for ceramics. She was born to a widowed mother with three daughters and an immigrant father from Germany. Her time on her family’s farm spawned a life-long empathy for farmers, the animals they tended and a lifetime of happy memories. She graduated from Bensalem High School in 1955. She completed Comptometer Training in 1958 which was always a great source of pride for her. She had her first child, in 1956 and she would spend the next 12 years raising her daughter on her own and caring for her two aging parents all the while working full time as a cashier at Acme Supermarkets. Somehow, she still found time to take her daughter on weekend trips to Shawnee on the Delaware Resort in the Poconos Mountains. These trips created many happy memories for both her and her daughter. It was at Acme in 1959 that she first met her beloved husband of 54 years Robert Messick. After working together for many years, they fell in love in 1966 and married in January of 1967. Their little family expanded quickly with a daughter being born later that same year and a son being born in 1969. Gloria was determined that her children would not become “latch key kids” and from that point forward her family became her one and only focus. Gloria had visited the Seattle area during the 1965 World’s Fair and had always dreamed of living there. Searching for a better life for her family they moved to Washington State in 1971. They purchased a house in Lynnwood in 1972 and have lived in it now for 49 years. She made the house a home. The yard was always filled with colorful flowers, the house always perfectly decorated for the holidays, and it always smelled of whatever homemade meal she was making at that time. She strived at every turn to do her best for her family whether it was making homemade Halloween costumes for her kids, baking her husband’s favorite pie for his birthday, or making sure homework and chores were done. Everything she did she did for her family. She loved to take her family on day trips to the many beautiful spots around the state and she always packed an amazing picnic lunch for them to enjoy. By doing this she instilled a life-long love of the outdoors in all her kids. Her family and her home are her undying legacies. Gloria leaves behind her loving husband Robert, her three children Gloria, Karen and Jay, her daughter-in-law Denise, her son-in-law Leon, her grand-children Larry, Rochelle and Kyle, their spouses, Kristina, Arlen and Chelsey and her great-grandchildren Brody, Tristan, and Wyatt.